Summer of Sport 2026

The Summer of Sport 2026 is a major programme led by sportscotland, designed to encourage children and young people across Scotland to participate in sport and physical activity. 

The initiative is supported by a £20 million investment from the Scottish Government, aimed at creating inclusive, inspiring, and accessible sport. Scottish Orienteering put in an application to receive some of this funding which was accepted. Notably we were the only sport to receive all the funding that we asked for in the application. 

We have secured funding for tasters sessions to be run by a young coach (18-25) in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Inverness and Helensburgh. These will be followed up by local events run by clubs. We hope to develop young coaches by giving them the opportunity to gain experience of delivering training and developing resources to assist their coaching session. Areas used for the taster sessions will be accessible by public transport and can be undertaken as a family group or individually. These sessions take place from August- September. 

The Sport Scotland Summer of Sport campaign isn’t the only outreach activities that have been happening so far this Summer. Clubs have been busy on the ground delivering: 

• Solway ran a family session with Nithdale Active Schools with over 40 people attending across the 2 hour period. Solway plans a similar session with Annandale and Eskdale Active Schools. 
• ESOC ran a maze as part of the Leith Links Festival with 64 participants. Later this Summer ESOC are running maze with the friends of Saughton Park. 

Whether through the upcoming funded taster sessions or club initiatives, the Summer of Sport is shaping up to be a great time of getting people involved in orienteering. Thank you to sportscotland for the funding and the hard work of local clubs.